the withdrawal of over thirty thousand troops from afghanistan is one of the main pledges in barack obama's state of the union address party examines the foreign policy areas he wasn't keen to talk about. silence is broken israeli media lifts a shroud of secrecy of the death of an alleged secret agent in custody despite the government trying to keep it quiet. and with europeans paying some of the highest taxes in the world the wealthy take flight to protect their cash and small businesses say they are taking too big a hit. from a new center here in moscow this is r.t. with the online on screen twenty four hours a day. use the first state of the union address of his second term to try and

appease law makers and taxpayers making fresh promises to boost the economy and slash debt on foreign policy the us president also announced thirty four thousand troops will leave afghanistan by next february and he said he looks at what he did and didn't say. after over a decade of war troops are coming home in twenty fourteen as obama put it obama points out that there are two missions now one to prepare handing afghan forces to take over so that the country does not slip into chaos again the key word here again it almost seems as if it's now a stable place just today reports of ten civilians killed by a nato strike targeting taliban insurgents and while obama spent most of his speech talking about the economy and taxes he failed to mention that so far the u.s. has invested over one hundred billion dollars in reconstruction of afghanistan and that this year alone it's expected another thirty billion dollars could be spread

to nate this as the afghan state is rated one of the most corrupt in the world despite red flags from a watchdog monitory bad aid they say there's no way of ensuring all this money is going to the right place or whose hands the cash is falling into and that it's too dangerous in many places in afghanistan to safely observe what's happening well former and. some have become very rich including western officials well most afghans have been left with nothing many countries thrive on this war they make money there is their people others who are lined up and making fat salaries and while the life of afghan ordinary afghans have not changed we of course we have had some things like media. communication and this and that but. to in relation to what was available and what could have been done it's drop in the bucket now obama also spoke of defending democracy across the globe most notably

the arab spring which is previously been held by his administration a great success especially libya egypt and tunisia those countries of course now still drowning in chaos and violence two years on well. has changed his tune a bit now saying well it's going to be messy those transitions also his tone on syria a bit distant considering a year ago the u.s. was insisting president off to moscow a lot of speculation about intervention was going on now the president saying they will continue to put pressure on the syrian leader another pledge from obama to continue to push for legal and durable policy on counterterrorism no mention here of guantanamo drones or wiretapping and obama mentioned internet freedoms well sort of he flaunted signing an executive order on cyber defense but the order is really seen as a response to congress's refusal to pass the cyber intelligence sharing and protection

act or sis but last year in light of serious privacy concerns in other words a loophole is now available for cispa to effectively be put into action when president obama says the main goal is to ensure chaos doesn't return to afghanistan and as a need to mention just today ten afghan civilians including four children were reportedly killed by a nato strike when it's get more now from the war it is usually a year he joins us from washington is pledging to ensure chaos doesn't come to afghanistan which i just mentioned earlier did it ever leave. well as you just mentioned with the recent strike by nato killing a number of individuals i don't think afghanistan ever left i mean the united states and nato intervention has ramped up a very significant war where people are getting killed not only in i.d.'s and drone strikes by nato and all sorts of different sort of tax there's widespread corruption and so i think this entire i mean the very last election as we saw was

essentially fraudulent so i think the entire situation in afghanistan is extremely unstable it always has been saying that he want to allow chaos to return is a rhetorical device by president obama to mitigate any sort or to sort of white wash the history of what's been going on there during his presidency and the presidency of george w. bush there are statistics to suggest that things are improving the coalition says the number of children who died oh well wounded by operation dropped by nearly forty percent last year now that is a significant number cause for optimism well i mean i think it's a significant number and perhaps there is some call i think there's certainly optimism in that i mean anytime there's less children being killed it's important but i think what we have to realize here is that the united states and president obama said this during his state of the union address last night is continuing to pursue a quote unquote counterterrorist option inside of afghanistan which means they will continue to get continued drone strikes continue special forces strikes and they'll be continued conflict and strife the essentially puppet government made karzai

government will continue with u.s. and international funds to push the fight against those they view as their enemies and there's you know a significant amount of uncertainty and turmoil in the country and so while i think it's important to cheer any time we see less killing i think we also have to be aware that there are a number of fault lines that continue to exist in the afghan conflict but generally though since nato has been there is there no evidence suggests that some afghans lives have indeed improved. well i mean i think that's an extremely. statement that you could parse in many different ways i mean for example we saw recently there was a united nations report that said in two thousand and twelve over fifty percent of afghans had to pay a bribe to a public official so that means that health care education all sorts of social welfare services can only be obtained by afghan people who make very little money or a country in extremely dire straits had to pay extra money had to come out of their pocket to obtain of central services so if you're saying well maybe the situation

is better since nato has been there i would also say well one there's been a war a devastating war that's killed thousands and thousands of people and to the government that's in place is not providing essential services in such a way that in any of the western countries in the united states would be considered in any way certain shape or form to be accepted do you think the corruption and mismanagement will get any better once there is a u.s. withdrawal many say that the afghan government is being really washington's puppet and there's obviously been a lot of money involved and in the support that it's received from washington do you think that could change once the afghan government finds its feet. i'm not sure if that would change because the afghan government as it exists and as it will continue to exist is essentially the same leadership that has been pursuing an extremely corrupt path over all these years since cars i first became the leader of the country recent united nations report that i mentioned earlier last year three point nine billion dollars was taken from public funds and corruption sixty eight percent of individuals said they felt it was fair for a public official to take

a bribe and so we can see the culture of corruption is deeply ingrained in afghan governmental officials and i don't really see if the same forces are at play the same individuals are in that position how there would be a significant change in the culture of corruption that exists there just quickly one other area bamma did address in the speech was that procedures to reduce the country's cyber security threats resources will be increased for that summit concerned that this could affect privacy but what these resources be actually used for defensive purposes it's a good thing america needs that security doesn't it. well i mean i think it's interesting obviously cyber security is a huge threat i mean anyone who uses e-mail or anyone who has a wife and network is critically could be a victim of identity theft and things of that nature when we look at what's going on here with the information sharing between the department of defense the government and others private corporations i think it raises significant concerns over whether the issue of defense is actually defending us or weakening us i mean

we see recently the three largest papers in the united states washington post new york times wall street journal all had major scandals over the issue of cyber security now if they're sharing information with the government i think that raises a potential question well what about journalist e-mails and things of that nature will that have a chilling effect on whistleblowers in the government and so i think we have to ask ourselves is generalize obviously generalized cybersecurity defense is important but ultimately is the way the obama administration is approaching it expanding department of defense type programs and not having safeguards that are very well explained to the people regarding civil liberties in place is that something that actually decreases our security by for example having a chilling effect on whistleblowers or just giving the government more of a big brother overview and really reducing our privacy i don't think we can say we're more safe by having less privacy. in live from washington thanks very much good to hear what you have to say thanks for being this with us live here naughty things. that have sons have the death of

a top secret prisoner has been lifted by the israeli media which had been gagged by court order and surface for the reporting australian press about a man linked to the israeli secret service who hanged himself in prison after months of being held in secret. as the details. israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu summoned the editors of all the major israeli news outlets to an emergency meeting and in that meeting he asked them not to publish the story saying and i'm quoting that it would be embarrassing to a certain government agency not at first the editors did listen and over fences to the original australian report removed from israeli news websites but later it was brought back not only to the websites but also to all the radio and t.v. stations here and certainly sincerely also this morning it has been the headline news everyone though is referencing it as a report from australia not what we understand is that israeli parliament erin

stood off the justice minister to confirm whether or not this report was true they also demanded to know if they were other prisoners who were being held in secret in israeli jails the justice minister's comments were and i'm quoting that there is no doubt that if this information is accurate this is something that needs to be checked state since it is gave news outlets in israel the green light to report on this parliamentary debate but nothing else but of course we're witnessing now that the reporting has gone much further than just this debate such a gag order it is important to say it is highly unusual in israel ways statement a tree since as many and all of the local media to quote selling sources on controversial topics such as the alleged israeli strike in syria last month what we also have. whites groups such as human rights watch as well as the israeli civil rights movement has been aware of this particular incident for quite some time now the australian media is reporting that this man came to live in israel when he was

a youngster he made what is called and he was recruiting on the stand by the messiah these raided secret service something went wrong and we've been given no reason for him being in prison but they respected nation that it would have had to be connected somehow with espionage and sensitive state secrets the former foreign minister avigdor lieberman has said that left wing parliamentarians have damaged israeli security by bringing this issue to the fore in the first place. plenty of questions remain after that israel spy secret was revealed columnist and senior correspondent for israel's how did newspaper was particularly he says the situation is a source of great embarrassment for the local media. on one level it's an espionage story and mystery regarding the foreign intelligence service mossad and the tragic. circumstances under which one of its operatives apparently found his death

on another level. government versus press story and the press here has been struggling against various government agencies and gradually has been able to leave at least some of the secrecy surrounding this story there was a gag order here apparently and defer this was the case and one cannot confirm it independently from israel but again embarrassing is one has to rely on foreign sources if that is true and a gag order was signed by a judge then one would have been subject to prosecution if one were to violate it so apparently even though these really press is far from being lazy for the last two years it has waited passively for someone abroad in this case

australia to break the story tax hikes is still the default plan for nations trying to get out of debt and while the super rich can flee to places that won't take such a hefty slice of their cash small business is left behind saying livelihoods are at risk is not found out. he's a leading man of stage and screen however european heads of state will be hoping share our debt by do doesn't become the leader of a tax exodus by the super rich fund to our lands decision to push through a seventy five percent top rate of tax on those earning over one million euros saw the actor up sticks and head to russia europe has some of the highest rates of taxation in the world with many giving the lion share of the things to the state of a minefield inside that it can be a balancing act of course you want to run a successful business but if you make over a certain amount you find yourself paying out huge quantities of tax i over fifty

percent don't. there are warnings for europe that when compared to low tax countries like russia they could lose their competitive edge if they're a country with low taxes and with high taxes capital flow well to country with a low tax in the same is true for people with talent there's always going to be people that think the taxes are too high but a growing number actually starting to think that it's becoming detrimental to the development of business but he can't owns a whole it company in munich currently he employs around ninety people transporting everything from the small to the big and bulky all over mainland europe he says that lowering the current rate of tax would not just make big changes to his business but also to the lives of his staff that's where not only can he. he would be super first i could pay higher salaries this is a very important issue right now due to the rise in the cost of living also i can

invest more into the company and grow the business even employ more people everyone benefits something that is impossible under the current tax system and that those in power argue that the problem in european countries right now is that taxpayers want to have the best of both worlds i think management of the phenomenon we face regarding taxes is that everyone wants to pay as little as possible however no one is willing to give up the services that those taxes go to pay for with few signs of any major tax cuts on the horizon in europe businesses like this one going to have to continue to struggle to bring home the bacon but it comes to saving fifty development peter all of a r.t. . a lot of her most don't come later in the program this a gamble for africa you're a human rights chief says the situation in mali is swiftly deteriorating following french intervention examine the violence that's plaguing the west african nation.

face in teaching religious schools spread across more than two decades of being banned under the previous regime investigate whether islam in schools is good for young minds that report just ahead of the break.

he. used continues here and on t.v. reports say cattle as head of the syrian embassy to the old. position the building's been closed for about a year after the gulf nations cease to recognize the sounds ruling regime one of syria's opposition leaders claims he's been appointed ambassador to quetta as syrian political activist yes and abdullah told me earlier katter is trying to beef

up the failing syrian national coalition it's not an addition to the political weight of the syrian national coalition in my view this is a this is primarily prime primarily to reinject some life into the syrian national coalition especially after the several blows that it received since. it was formed we know that they want to. overthrow the regime they couldn't so far they want to achieve some liberated lands and more than in northern syria and they didn't so far and they also wanted to form a transitional government on syrian soil and they're meeting in us istanbul recently failed in doing so so i think i think this movement by by qatar especially the us qatar considers itself the main backer of this their own national coalition because it's it was it's own project so it's it's leinster mosque and we inject

some life into it after after the deficiencies that. just a reminder we have more stories in great videos for you dot com our web site online all the time here's a quick look at what we've lined up there for you at the moment after taking a battering from mother nature residents in parts of new york which were hit hardest by hurricane sandy are in for unfortunate surprise from the city's tax authorities also online at the moment how joblessness is feeling very public acts of despair as a man sets fire to himself in front of a french employment agency full details on that on our website with plenty of other stories in features at the moment it all to dot com.

the united nations says the french military intervention in mali has made the situation in the country would swith fears that the west african nation will fall into a downward spiral of violence human rights groups are concerned about ethnic reprisal killings and accused money in forces of murdering suspected militants. who's been traveling around the country throughout the conflict reports for. so you got him money yes. the united nations already describes the situation in mali as a disaster the u.n. human rights commission says the country's caught in a spiral of violence fraught with grievous consequences the situation has been made worse in the wake of ferocious fighting in and around the city of northern mali following four days of fierce resistance from insurgents complete with suicide

attacks the french military has been forced to conclude that some of the locals made an extremist that however some of the key areas in this conflict are still off limits to international journalists with the french army denying us passage saying it was for our own security the un high commissioner for human rights not be belayed made it plain in a recent statement that the situation in mali is only deteriorated following the foreign military intervention you know that the insurgency in mali's aggravated by ethnic clashes the nazi camera crew witnessed instances of exit brutality perpetrated by the mali an army and survived. the military and not the only ones in gage's and hunting down people of arable quora origin who are believed to be part of the insurgency and even the locals are going after them as well and for some time it has been difficult to find people from either of those ethnic groups anywhere in mali this brings us back to the fact that more than three hundred

thirty thousand people have been forced to flee from their homes because of the crisis the last straw for all those refugees and indeed for all of mali has been a statement by al qaida coming out of the arabian peninsula which calls upon every muslim to join the holy war against france a war that is being fought in mali against the will of its people. mali are now there's the. time for some other international news in brief now in thailand nineteen insurgents were killed and they want to predawn assault to the military base. and the country self over a hundred heavily armed fighters stormed the marine camp on the malaysian border the troops were suffering no injuries themselves the raid is the heaviest militant attack for several years in the restive. in bahrain police used tear gas and stun grenades to disperse hundreds of protesters in the country's capital one day before the two year anniversary of the uprising people marched in the streets carrying bahraini flags and chanting anti-government slogans

accusing the ruling regime of corruption and human rights violations in staging demonstrations and early two thousand and eleven demanding political reform they now want the removal of the ruling. family blaming them for the violent crackdown on protests. religious education is making a serious comeback in tunisia two years after the regime which banned the teaching of islam was toppled the current government has no control of private muslim schools springing up across the country and the worry is spreading extremism lottie's and in a visit to the school where the qur'an is the main subject. tunisia's learned some tough lessons in the wake of its revolt but now the report card for what's going on in its schools is facing examination in the school in one of the poorest districts of the tunisian capital children come to learn about the qur'an and the way of life of true muslims religious education was banned under the old regime but it's making

a comeback in a big way the rise of islam islam has led to an increase in the number of religious schools are springing up across the country these schools are private operating outside of the control of state officials who have no say over what's being taught in these schools and some worry that this may lead to a rise in the number of young extremists even many religious experts agree filling young minds with religious doctrine is may not be the best way to bring up children . that do this and i read in one of the papers sent by a three year old girl to her mother with a message my beloved mom teach me about the afterlife the same way you teach about this life is this a way to teach three year old children we can see it clearly attempts to brainwash these children dr ramani carried out an extensive research of religious schools and to nice to find out whether critics were right to say that they were damaging to

the country's post revolutionary development she found most schools were primarily focused on teaching strict islamic values without worrying about the effect these methods may have on youngsters. i have noticed that all female teachers at these schools where any cub while teaching you can see her face this is in contradiction with what's known in psychology as communication how can she communicate with the kids of her face is covered emotions and movement of vital to kids and social interaction such things do not contradict our values and morals. but parents who send their children to study at these schools believe they are on the right track. educating their children with muslim values is the way to ensure that they will lead a proper life from childhood study in the koran improves memory increases thinking abilities and says the right course for the rest of their lives. at the moment not even the ministry of education is able to say exactly how many religious schools

there are in tunisia after the revolution they sprung up over the country many operating without license from the state the government has acknowledged the problem but has its hands full trying to keep the economy together. is on the backburner this absence of control of it especially worse on top of the concerns about extremist salafist groups gaining ground. these groups don't believe in democracy republic and freedom they consider them to be against their religion they want to impose their way of life onto new zealand by force as if they know better than other people. after the arab spring revolt tunisians were eager to embrace what they hoped would be a new way of life but with radical islam permeating more and more spheres of everyday life these children's future may not be exactly what many parents had hoped for in their quest for freedom and democracy in tunisia. r.t. .